Hoppy was one of those western heroes who was honest enough to say things like "Sixguns won't solve this problem" before applying his brain as well as his fists to defeating the bad guys._________________tuned in from down under

I,ve read that one of the considerations in starting a new western was whether the hero would shoot to kill or merely wound. ie shoot their gun hand. A lot of these were targeted for a juvenile audience. But the message was that the good guy always wins.

I,ve read that one of the considerations in starting a new western was whether the hero would shoot to kill or merely wound. ie shoot their gun hand. A lot of these were targeted for a juvenile audience. But the message was that the good guy always wins.

The Hopalong Cassidy radio show began in January, 1950, only a few months after the Hoppy films had begun on the new upstart, television. The program was the creation of Commodore Productions. begun by Walter and Shirley White. They convinced radio stations throughout the country to run this program featuring the new popular cowboy hero of television. They later would also produce the Clyde Beatty radio show and also the Lamont Johnson-Tarzan program. Johnson later became a famous television director. Boyd also began his popular newspaper comic strip that same year. The program also featured Andy Clyde as Hoppy's sidekick, California. Clyde had also appeared in the Hoppy features. Now youngsters could either watch Hoppy on TV or listen to him on radio. While Hoppy's films on TV were usually sponsored by any number of regional bakeries such as Bond Bread or Tip Bread, the Hoppy radio show was sponsored by Grape-Nut Flakes. California always told us that "if you want to be like Hoppy, you gotta eat Hoppy."